Sure enough, on the first and third Thursday’s I would hear voices downstairs, the elevator doors opening, then closing and the sound of the motor, sometimes they would come up the steps to reach the third floor. Once there, I would hear muted sounds and the clinking of pool balls. Two hours or so later, I would hear them leave.  I would get involved in what I was doing losing track of time, then I would again hear the clink, clink of pool balls. Looking at the clock, I realized it was after 1 in the morning. The first time it happened I got up and walked down the hall, down the stairs and unlocked the inside door then the outside door. Walking out onto the sidewalk, there were no extra cars on the street and no lights on upstairs. I retraced my steps and went back to work. I did not think anymore about it, until two weeks later when it happened again on a third Thursday. This time it was 12:30, so instead of going downstairs, I decided to go up the stairs and see if I could see any light coming from under the door. As I walked up the stairs, the lights in the stairwell went out. I sat on the step until my eyes adjusted. I could tell there were no lights on upstairs, but I still heard noises. I sat there in the dark, not frightened, but instead, as I would have said in the sixties, "I got good vibes".  I got up, went back downstairs, finished what I was doing and went home. Then one night, one of the other tenants was working late on a Thursday night and about midnight, appeared in the doorway looking pale. "Did you hear that?", I was asked. "Sure." I replied, "It’s only the pool playing Pythians." "But they left hours ago." she said. I said, "I know." After that, I never saw that person working late on a Thursday night again.

I realized I needed to know more about this organization, The Order of Knights of Pythias and the history of the Pythian Building. Now I will share with you some of what I was able to find out. According to the *Website for the DC chapter The Order of Knights of Pythias is an international fraternity which was founded in Washington DC. , February 19, 1864 by Justus H. Rathbone. There are still more than two thousand subordinate lodges in the United States and Canada. The principles of the Order of Knights of Pythias are, "Friendship, Charity and Benevolence." The Order of Knights of Pythias was the first American Order ever charted by an Act of the United States Congress. Members are dedicated to the cause of Universal peace and are pledged to the promotion of understanding among men of good will, as the surest means of attaining Universal peace.

The local organization Lancelot Lodge #13 of the Knights of Pythias was charted in 1873. Some of the charter members were W. P. Robertson, A. W. Campbell, A.W. Anderson and W.F. Alexander. In 1888 the lodge purchased the corner lot and two adjacent lots on the corner of Main and Liberty streets. In 1889 they constructed the building known as The Pythian Castle and Opera House. "The Castle" was a four story building with a turret on the northwest corner. The lodge occupied the fourth floor.  According to the book, Historic Madison, by Emma Inman Williams, there were many performances of fine Opera and other artist in the Pythian Opera House which was located on the ground floor facing Liberty Street. The 1898 City Directory lists other tenants in the building as W.S. Moore and Alf Bensinger, insurance agents, Second National Bank and the Pythian Barber Shop.

A fire severely damaged the building in February 1901, especially the fourth floor and the turret. When the building was rebuilt, neither the fourth floor, the turret, nor the opera theater were included in the reconstruction. The Second National Bank’s board voted to move back into the building where they remained until 1970. The lodge occupied the entire third floor. As one walked up the steps, you would go through a set of double doors and into an entrance hall. To the right was the dining hall and kitchen and to the left, I was told, behind two sets of double doors, was a meeting room.

In January 1989, the building was purchased by the Jackson Centre Inc. from the Knights of Pythias. Now the lodge rents the space. While surfing the net, I found several sites with e-mail addresses of lodges throughout the country. I requested information on the local chapter. Soon I started receiving e-mail from several lodges and officers. They provided me not only with names but telephone numbers of local members. One of the names given to me was that of Robert Tillman. I called to see if he could give me information on the local Lodge. He informed me that yes, the Lodge was still active with a membership of 125 members but only about 10 attend regular meetings. Seventy percent of the membership is over the age of seventy. They still meet on the first and third Thursday nights and sometimes members play pool. He told me among the active members the best player is 87 years old.  Mr. Tillman’s father was an active member, so it was only natural that he become a Pythian. The Lodge has changed since he became a member. He remembers stories of the big dinners and oyster stews they had at the lodge. When Second National Bank needed more space, they put up walls allowing about a third of the floor to be rented out. The space was taken from the kitchen area, the main hall was not changed. He is not completely sure, but he believes it was at this time that the pool tables were added, but it may have been earlier. He does remember pool tournaments being held at the lodge. He also recalled that a lot of the members had offices in the building and would sometimes have lunches in the dining hall. The one thing that has not changed, he said, is their belief in helping area charities. Each year they give several thousand dollars to organizations such as Youth Town, Boys and Girls Club, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and several others.

I could not resist, so I told him my story of sounds late at night, he chuckled. Now, I know the majority of you do not believe in ghosts and things that go bump in the night and that an old building is just full of sounds. That’s fine. I just happen to think that there is a lot of local history that gets passed over with the tearing down of buildings. I am glad my office is in the Pythian building and the sounds, no matter what they are, made me delve into the building’s history. I must say, I have a whole new attitude toward this building and if there are pool playing Pythians in the wee hours, I just hope they have a good game.